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Put a fair price on your services
By Lauren | July 17, 2009
Continuing my Friday series on ethical tips to keep your business out of court, let’s turn to a pitfall that professionals like attorneys, accountants and actuaries sometimes stumble over. It’s tough to get new clients these days, and professionals frequently cut their hourly or project fees in order to be more competitive. Sometimes, in an effort to provide a public service, professionals even offer to work free of charge, providing pro bono services to schools, hospitals, and charities.
Providing services at reduced rates isn’t inherently unethical. Problems arise, however, if the professional incorrectly assumes that it’s okay to be less careful when providing discounted services. It’s an easy mistake to make. The professional (let’s call him Norman) reckons that his is worth $XXX per hour, and starts to resent the amount of time it would take to do the discounted project properly. Other work starts to seem more lucrative, so Norman decides that it just makes good business sense to invest less time in a discounted project than he ordinarily would. Working too quickly, Norman misses something critical and provides his client with a finished product that contains a serious mistake. The client relies on Norman’s flawed work, suffers an injury, and sues Norman for malpractice.
If a professional agrees to provide services to a client, the law usually requires the professional to provide acceptable work regardless of how much or how little the professional charges. Even pro bono work needs to meet the profession’s ordinary standard of care. Cutting corners isn’t good business, even if the client is getting the work for free.
There’s a lot to be said for community service and “special introductory pricing.” Just make sure that, if you offer your services at a reduced rate, you’re prepared to devote the time to do the work well.
Topics: Business Ethics, Professional Ethics, Risk Management, customer relations, ethics |